This invention relates to accounting systems that collect information from computer networks.
Data collection systems are used to collect information from network traffic flow on a network. These data collection systems are design to capture one type of network traffic from one source type and delivery the data to one application type such as a billing application.
In one aspect of the invention, a system for collecting data from network entities for a data consuming application includes a plurality of data collectors to receive information from the network entities and to produce records based on the information. Each data collector in the plurality of data collectors is associated with and coupled to a different one of the network entities. The system further includes a flow aggregation processor and an enhancement component. The flow aggregation processor is coupled to the plurality of data collectors and receives records produced by at least two of the plurality of data collectors. The enhancement component augments data in one of the received records produced by one of the at least two of the plurality of data collectors with data from a different one of the received records produced by another of the at least two of the plurality of data collectors.